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Mt. Shasta (Photo: Mimi Ditchie Photography via Getty)
In what rescuers called a “mentally challenging” operation, a team of three young climbers safely descended Mt. Shasta over the weekend after spending an unplanned night on the peak with no warm sleep systems or shelter. The group had hunkered down off trail in a potentially dangerous location after running out of food and water—and rescuers say their reliance on an AI chatbot to plan some aspects of their trip contributed to their ordeal.
From going too light on food and water to camping in a prohibited location, virtually on top of a mountain headspring, rangers said the three college students came ill-prepared to meet the challenges of the mountain.
“These were smart guys,” said Nick Meyers, program manager for the Forest Service’s Mt. Shasta climbing rangers and avalanche center. “But they just missed the mark. It led to spending all day, all night, and all day again walking up and down off the mountain.”
The three men, college students in their early 20s, arrived at the Clear Creek Trailhead to climb 14,179-foot Mt. Shasta on Saturday, August 29. They ascended that night to a well-known base camp area at 8,600 feet, arriving around 8 p.m.
The next morning, they launched their summit bid with an alpine start at 3 a.m. They advanced very slowly. Ten hours later, they had managed to ascend another 2,600 feet, covering only about one mile.
The summit of Mt. Shasta was still another 3,000 feet up and well over a mile ahead. While their slow pace didn’t signal any specific problem, it was becoming a downstream hazard, because their AI-assisted food and water planning had only fueled them for an 8-hour round trip.
“We don’t know why they were as slow as they were,” Meyers said, noting that the group did have a conversation at this point about whether to turn around.
By 3 p.m., they had reached a distinctive waypoint at 12,800 feet called Mushroom Rock. According to rangers, the group again debated going up or down, consulting two other parties. One said up, one said down.
At 7 p.m., they finally summited Mt. Shasta, 16 hours after they had departed base camp. The climbers turned around quickly, reaching Mushroom Rock again by 8, but ran into another problem right away: the phone they had been using to navigate via AllTrails was dead, and the portable charger they’d brought along refused to charge it back up.
The men dialed 911, asking for directions. But they mis-navigated nonetheless, wandering significantly off route to the south. After several more hours, they had proceeded in the dark over a neighboring ridgeline into Mud Creek Canyon, an area with dangerously loose rock where there is no established route up or down the mountain.
The group had already called rescuers again to report hypothermia and a knee injury when one of them slipped after dark with no headlamp on.
“One thing was leading to another on these calls, and we knew they needed help,” Meyers said.
Teams reached the group the next morning, Aug. 31, after an exposed bivy near 11,000 feet. A helicopter rescue—often the standard on the steep, uneven and rocky terrain above treeline on Shasta—was unfeasible due to the location.
“They were exhausted, but we had to hike them out,” Meyers said. He added that their condition was less than desperate: They had avoided serious hypothermia, and the injured party member was ambulatory.
After some food, water, and a pep talk, all three walked down under their own power. Passing their campsite, rangers found the group’s tent pitched damagingly close to the headspring of Clear Creek, among scattered food wrappers and cookware. They reached Clear Creek Trailhead at 6:30 p.m, concluding the planned 8-hour trip after 39.5 hours.
Meyers attributed the incident to lapses of information and mentorship. The group said they knew about the robust Mt. Shasta information website, shastaavalanche.org, but didn’t use it to prepare. They also had suitable gear—a solid tent, headlamps, and snow travel equipment, as well as summit passes—but lacked other equipment that would have supported their plan, like a reliable charging system for their phone or a backup method of navigation..
“Our objective is always to give people information,” Meyers said. “We don’t try to influence what people do, but instead give them the knowledge and resources they need to make good decisions in the mountains.
“We know people are going to use AI to prepare themselves, and it’s happening more and more – especially with educated young people. But there’s no excuse for ignoring the information when it’s freely available. We just try to encourage everyone to talk to a real person first. We’re here to help.”